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we use a coleman extreme cool box and it does what it says on the box, keeps ice frozen for up to 6 days, it has to be prepped but certainly worth the £55 my brother in law payed for!!

we took a duvet first trip but too big and bulky especially as other equipment has grown a double sleeping bag got bought.

hairdryer no chance only room for hair scrunchies.

Hi, we bought a king size sleeping bag so we wouldn't feel too restricted and it has worked perfect, there's loads of space and takes up less room than duvet. It also zips open at both sides so you can throw it off if you wish.

Personally, I'm a very hot person and finding nights too hot at mo but I've not too hot camping yet! xxx

lol the first time I went camping on my own I took 7 pairs of shoes for a weekend  just in case  

We have a hanging rail from argos for week long trips. Also have EHU so run a small fridge off that and back it up with a cool box with freezer blocks. Run a hairdryer and straighteners off the EHU - well I do have a 14yo daughter. I cant stand being too hot or hemmed in so I do have a sleeping bag but leave it open and have a small quilt on top. My daughter has a mummy style sleeping bag and a small quilt on top. As for ironing....... somehow I have never had to do any ironing while away camping but most places that we have visited have got ironing facilities.

The first few times are trial and error but you will soon be a pro

If you roll clothes rather than fold it stops them creasing too badly. Take things like tee shirts and joggers,or combats that dont get too creased anyway it's camping, not a fashion parade. Most campers are really casually dressed.

You do see the ones who have high heels and lipstick at all times, but they do look a bit silly when their heels get stuck in the mud. (my sister in law is one of these, she spent more time doing her hair and makeup in the tent than doing anything else. Tbh, everyone was laughing at her.

I only take one pair of shoes camping these days, my crocs. They go with everything I wear on site.

 I have special camping clothes I keep just for camping , consisting of 2 tracksuits , several vest tops, three quarter jeans, pyjamas, swimsuit and shorts. And a thin cotton cheesecloth shirt, for when its too hot,as  I burn easily. These last me a weekend, and get washed and put back in the box when I get home.

I used to take allsorts of clothes when we had a caravan, and an iron too, but soon learned it was too much hassle, and I'd rather be relaxing than worrying about how I look.

Even in the clubhouse, people just wear really casual stuff. except the teenagers. They still dress as if they're going to nightclubs in town, with tons of makeup slapped on.  But hey, they're out to impress.

I do  take an eyeliner pencil, lipstick and blusher. to make me look a bit more human after a long night on the wine, if I can be bothered to put it on, which i usually can't tbh.

Kingsize square ended sleeping bags  these were a real bargain at £15, for us too. hate being closed in, but nice to have the option if it is really cold. We use ours like duvets, one under and one over us. Pack down into their bags much smaller than a duvet but just as warm.

I would say enjoy the experience.

Buy clothes that you can wear without ironing, keep them in a box just for the summer. Go ultracasual (AKA scruffy) and enjoy it. The rest of us will be waiting to talk with you, so relax, and enjoy 

If needs must, buy a 12 volt hairdrier that you can plug into the car cigarette lighter and leave it in the glove compartment.

If after 12 months you have not collected enough stuff to fill a garage, camping is not for you.

Some people (and I'm one of them) are just not happy in scruffy clothes. 

I run a large family camp in the summer and for this I always take a linen suit and a couple of smart shirts which go on hangers, flat on top of the load in the back of the car and then get hung from the frame of the tent with my tie (!) on the trouser rail of the hanger.

One of the many advantages of frame tents is that you can hang everything from tin openers through mugs, riding hats to suits from the frame). 

I roll up T shirts (after ironing them at home) and they seem to come out of the bag relatively uncreased.  I have separate "on site" scruffy clothes for when I'm dealing with the fire, cooking, putting up tents, digging wet sumps and for wet muddy days etc.

Even when I'm back packing, doing Duke of Edinburgh award training and helping run youth camps I still have my "fire clothes" and my ironed "day clothes."

When my daughters were little and I was broke, I used to do washing on the camp site (by hand) and found if you rolled T shirts in an old towel while they were wet before pegging them out, you could get away without ironing them.  Nowadays I take enough clothes for the trip and as for ironing stuff when I'm on holiday........

There's no point in my taking a hair dryer:  I have no hair to dry!

My friend, with whom I do youth camps, wears the scruffiest of clothes, doesn't always have a wash in the morning when we rough camp (you must wash before you go to bed otherwise smuts from the fire gets transferred from your skin to your sleeping bag) and even allows himself to be seen in public in tracksuit bottoms!  He looks at me as if I'm mad when I wash my top half with a mugful of water in the middle of a muddy wood in the pouring rain.  Neither of us understand the other of course.....

Take care.

R

Just one question, what's an iron.......

My definition of scruffy is when I haven't managed a shower within the previous 24 hours. Sometimes I have two per day when it's warm. And not having chipped polish on my toenails.

Same with clothes...not dirty, basically. Creases I can live with.

With regards to the hairdryer I would take one if you think it is going to be cold.  I take one now because I get really cold if I have damp hair, not because I'm vain and fussy about my hair.   If the weather is hot then it's not a problem.

1.  We have a cool box which runs off the car and electric hook up.  However, how do people keep their food cool if they don't have electrtic hookup?

cool box & ice blocks, most sites have a freezer for ice blocks. I have a 12v/240v chiller & it ain't much good as a 12v because it drains the battery too quick. I bought a small household fridge which I use when I'm on ehu, best thing to get is a 3 way fridge but they are not very cheap.

2.  We are planning to use a king size duvet at this time of year, when hopefully the wather is a bit kinder.  Do people think this will suffice.  We don't want to buy sleeping bags if we don't have to?

you'll need 2 duvets, 1 for underneath. better to get 2 sleeping bags that can be zipped together.

3.  How do most people store their clothes?  I hate my clothes being creased up so am hoping that if we go to a site with facilities that their would be a sort of ironing room where I could give things a quick iron, but how do I hang them in the tent?

mine are screwed up in a kit bag, some posh sites have irons & a laundry room. (while your there just knock on my flap & do me a shirt)

4.  Do the sites that have facilities have hairdriers to use when you get out of the shower or do I need to take my own?

My missus takes her own, some sites have them but she reckons they are never that good. & Some sites don't have any leccy sockets in the block (if that happens check the laundry room or go to the posh toilet block up the caravan end).

Thanks.

Chris n Bob

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Hi Chris and Bob and welcome to the world of camping!

I hae done both extremes from wild camping with nothing but a tiny sleeping bag and tent to match to the luxury side of things which i must say, i prefer these days especially with having a little one in tow.

I normally perservere with a sleeping bag but absolutely hate the things as i sleep with one knee up round my middle somewhere so this year, the duvet is making an appearence. I intend to use a thermarest self inflating mattress (covered in a matterss protector to prevent sliding around) and a duvet on top. I also use a camping wardrobe as i can't bear living out of a bag! You can get these in most camping shops and on e bay.

Enjoy!

Helen x

Quote: Originally posted by Bocris on 09/6/2008

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3.  How do most people store their clothes?  I hate my clothes being creased up so am hoping that if we go to a site with facilities that their would be a sort of ironing room where I could give things a quick iron, but how do I hang them in the tent?

 

In a hardware shop today I saw something called a Proteam clothes stand. It was about 4'- 5' high, had a tripod base, and 3 arms at the top that had holes that you could hang clothes hangers from. The whole thing folded up into a box about 2' x 9" x 4" deep. Just the job for haging clothes in a tent, I thought!

I'm sure I've seen simlar things in Kleenezee or Betterware catalogues, too.

 

Someone posted this link on another thread. It's just the same as the thing I saw today, but dearer!

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/invt/0232455